A single vineyard wine from the Birichino winery in Santa Cruz. Birichino was started by Alex Krause and John Locke in 2008, who have made wine throughout Italy, France and California. Their focus for Birichino is on very old vines planted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, specifically from more moderate microclimates to produce wine with more finess than is typical for California.
This particular wine is the product of the Gimelli vineyard in the Cienega Valley AVA. The sandy soils of the vineyard are the floor of an ancient sea, and was originally planted in 1908. This makes the vines 114 years old! The vines are also ungrafted, as phylloxera is naturally twarted by sandy soils.
This muscular yet finessed wine has notes of plums, black tea, lichens, and blueberry.
